I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mexican Gothic is the latest bestseller to fall into the DNF pit. Let me start off this book review by saying that I'm not only disappointed by how much I didn't enjoy this Gothic suspense -- but I'm very surprised by it. Author Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic made HUGE waves last year among bookstagrammers and book bloggers, for its book cover alone! Which is, admittedly, gorgeous. ...
I went into reading A Gentleman in Moscow with mixed feelings. Why I decided to read A Gentleman in Moscow A Gentleman in Moscow had been on my reading radar for years. While I generally love stories set in Russia, I've never been particularly inclined to go for this one. I think it largely has to do with the fact that the person who recommended I read A Man Called Ove -- one of my favorite books EVER -- also recommended...
Unpopular opinion alert: I did not finish (DNF) Red, White, and Royal Blue. SO many people have raved about this book by Casey McQuiston, readers and bloggers alike. It was all over bookstagram when it published in 2019, and I'm still seeing it appear in bookstack photos of beloved books. What's Red, White, and Royal Blue about? As a lover of rom-coms, I was eager to read this relatively new member to the genre: a queer...
I really wanted to fall deliciously deep into Rhapsody. But, this book was a DNF for me. I feel extra bad about saying this, too, since author Mitchell James Kaplan sent a personalized note on lovely, thick, cream-colored stationary along with the ARC. But, I'm all about the honest reviews, so....here goes. What's Rhapsody about? Set in Jazz Age NYC, Rhapsody is the story of composer George Gershwin's love affair with Kay...
"Maybe you should talk to someone." How many times have we heard those words, whether uttered jokingly or spoken with complete sincerity? Personally, I've said them lots of times to friends, family, and co-workers. Yeah, I'm that person. Which is why I was immediately intrigued by the title of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed. As a strong advocate of mental health awareness, I subscribe...
Whoever wrote the book description for Catherine House should have written the actual story. Because the book description is way better than the book itself. What's Catherine House about? I'm honestly not sure what Catherine House is supposed to be about. Because nothing I read matches up with what I was promised the story would be. Billed as a suspenseful, atmospheric, modern Gothic novel about a young woman who suspects her elite...
I can't remember if I requested an ARC of Saint X. I was pretty surprised when it showed up on my doorstep last fall, so I'm guessing that I didn't actually seek this one out. However, it's possible I just forgot. Book bloggers tend to say yes to any offers of free books that come their way, and, while I limit the ARCS I request to only a few per year, there's a good chance I read a synopsis of Saint X before my self-imposed ARC restrictions and...
Did anyone else feel the earth move? Sorry, that was because of me. I just added a Jenny Colgan novel – The Bookshop on the Shore -- to my DNF pile. *Gulp* It’s no secret that I adore Colgan’s novels. The Bookshop on the Corner (or, The Book Shop of Happy Ever After, if you’re in the U.K.) was my first foray into the wonderful world of Jenny Colgan. Although I didn’t love it, I liked it enough to read The Little Beach Street Bakery,...
It'd been awhile since I read a new thriller, so I was pretty excited when Beautiful Bad arrived from the library. Before you get too excited, though, you should know that this book ended up on the DNF pile. *Womp womp* Apart from it sounding like a good thriller, I was originally drawn to Beautiful Bad because of the exotic locations in which part of the story is set. While the novel starts with a present-day crime scene, a lot of the first 100...
Goodreads and some other book bloggers tell me I’m in the minority on this one – but I just don’t care. The Last Romantics was a DNF for me. I requested the ARC of author Tara Conklin’s newest novel in a moment of optimism. I hadn’t been able to finish her debut novel, The House Girl; the premise had interested me, but the writing fell flat and refused to suck me into its story. Still, I had hoped that my encounter with The Last...
